Photographic print drier



June 10-, 1930. R. s. HOPKINS, 7 1,763,629 il-IOTOGRA1 HIG PRINT DRIER Fi led May 14, 192'? I a Sheets- Sheet 1 INYENTOR, oplims, v I

, m* r v ATTORNEYS.

Jgne 1.0, 1930. I R. s. HOPKINS 1,763,629

PHOTOGRAPHIC [PRINT mu'sn Filed May 14. 1927 :5 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 75 J8 71 PI v 4;-

=2 n; 76 1 VENTOR, 74 RyS-HO v v ,6 Y 182$ 64- 85 82 531 7.5 75 ATTORNEYS.

June 10,1930. R. s. HQPKINS 17,763,629

PHQTOGRAPHIC PRINT DRIER Filed May 14, 1927 3 SheetsSheet 3 A TTORNEYS.

Patented June 10, 19130 rsNr OFFICE ROY S. HOPKINS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK rHoroGBArnIo rnmr DRIER Application filed may 14, 1927. Serial No. 191,486.

fThis invention relates to photographic print driers and particularly to driers for ferrotyping prints so thatthey may have a smooth glossy surface. One object of my invention is to provide a drier in which a drum having a smooth polished surface may receive prints from a feeding device'which may smooth the prints on the polished sur-' face. Another object is to provide a suitable power drive for the print drier. Another object is to provide a print drier in whicha' damp belt does not delay the drying action. Another object is to provide a drum drier in which prints do not contact with a belt after 13 being applied to the drum. Another object is to provide an automatic heat control for the print drier, and to provide a device free from packing or stufling boxes. Another ob Drying prints with a bi 'hly glossy sur face is diflicult for a num er of reasons.

First, the ferrotyping surface must be highly polished and entirely free'from' particles of dirt, fine scratches, or other blemishes as these are reproduced on the print. Second, the drying must occur at an equal rate of speed all over the print, that is, the polished sur face must be evenly heated, because if parts of the print dry more rapidly than others the 4 polish may be imperfect and cranks and drying lines may appear on the finished print.

With most driers that I am aware of a belt is used about the. drum. This not only requires that the belt be dried as well as the t5 prints -the drying time for the belt being much greater than for the prints.but also ermits dirt and markings to become offset om the belt onto the polished drum where' the belt contacts therewith. I Moreover, that 5 part .of the belt behind a printdrys more weight, these springs extending between theslowly than the belt contact with the drum, and the steam or heated vapors may affect the color of the prints, and the damp belt may produce uneven drying.

My machine has been designed to over- 5 come, as far as possible, these difficulties.

Coming now to thevdrawings wherein like reference characters denote like parts throughout: V Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a print drying machine constructed. in accordance with and embodyinga preferred form of niy invention; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of parts of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. a is a fragmentary end elevation showing the bufling roll and driving mechanism therefor; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section of a portion of the print drying drum;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section view showing parts of the mechanism shown in Fig. l; r

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation. of parts of the drum and buffer operating mechanism; and

Fig. 8 is another embodiment of my invention showing a preferred type of drum trunnion support.

My invention comprises broadly providing a drying drum having a highly polished print receiving surface which contacts only with a power driven roller which serves to rotate the drum and to iron the prints thereon. The feeding belt does notcontaet with the drum.

As shown inFig. 1, there is a main support 1 which has an enlarged-base 2 preferably provided with side walls 3 and end walls 4 and 5.- A bottom wall 6 with the side and end walls provides a tank into which the water 'w which is wrung from the prints, as

will be hereinafter more, fully described,- may drop. If desired, a drain pipe 7 (Fig.

3) may drain the water from the tank as collects therein. r A pair of arms 8 extendsupwardly from the base and is provided with slots or guideways 9 for supporting the square blocks 10 which provide bearings for the drum trunnions 11.

Springs 12 support a portion of the drums mo smooth periphery 16. Member 14 is preferably provided with cutout portions 17, and

member 16 is preferably inthe form of an unperforated plate. As best shown in Fig. 3, both plates 14 and 15 are provided with annular rooves 18 and 19 spaced a short distance from the smooth periphery 16. These two grooves support two drums 20 and 21 by the edges.

As shown in Fig. 5 drum 20 preferably comprises laminated metal, the outside surface 21 being chromium with a highly polished mirror like surface. This metal may be. plated on a layer 22 of silver or nickel which in turn may be supported by the main layer 23 which may be of copper. However, I do not wish to limit myself to the particular construction of drum 20, since certain features of my invention do not require that this, drum be constructed as above described.

The inner drum 21 may be a single layer of metal such as sheet steel. The two drums are held together by means of bolts 24 which tie plates 14 and 15 tightly together, thus leaving an annular opening 25 between the two drums in which the heating fluid, preferably water, may be placed.

In order to automatically retain the polished surface 21 of drum 20 at a constant temperature I use the following mechanism: A gas pipe 26 passes through an aperture 26 in the drum trunnion 11 mounted so asto remain in a fixed position with respect to the frame 1. The spool trunnion turns freely about this pi e. Pipe 26 leads to a valve 27 which is o the type that may be operated by a plunger 28, this plunger terminating in a head 29 and being normally pressed outwardly by a spring 28. From valve 27 a gas pipe 30 leads downwardly to a burner 31 which is merely a pipe provided with a series of apertures 32 directed toward the inner drum 21. The gas supplying and burning structure above described is all fixedly mounted with respect to the frame.

An automatic control for the gas valve 27 consists of a thermal unit which is mounted to turn with the drum. This includes a pipe 33 which extends into water 34 between the drums and is connected by means of a pipe 35 to a nipple 36 which extends into an expansion chamber 37. This expansion chamber is provided with a plunger 38 Which is moved upwardly when the expansion fluid in pipe 33 is expanded by means of the rising temperature of the water 34. This expansion causes the plunger 38 to press in on the valve plunger 28,- and thus reduce the flow of gas to the burner 31. It should be noted that plunger 38 turns against the end of the head 29 which controls the gas valve 27.-

As best shown in Fig. 3, the expansion chamber 37 is mounted in an annular member 39 having a flange 40 supporting the side plate 15 and having a trunnion 41 engaging the slide block 10, which may move in the guideway 9. I prefer to insulatethe expansion chamber 37 from the drum, and to this end there is a housing 42 which may be constructed of sheet metal having an annular flange 43, suitably attached to the side plate 15. This housing is preferably lined with a heat resisting layer such as cork or asbestos 44. An opening 45 permits the valve stem to pass through the housing.

In order to keep the polished surface 21 as free from dirt and as perfect as possible, this surface contacts with a minimum number of parts,I prefer a single print applying and drum rotating roller 46, this roller being preferably rubber or having a rubber surface. Thus only a relatively soft surface is brought into contact with the polished surface 21 of the drum. Roller 46 is fixedly supported with respect to frame 1 in bearings 47 the trunnions 48 passing through these bearings. One trunnion 48 is equipped with a gear 49 meshing with a. pinion 50 on shaft 51 on which there is also a gear 52 meshing with a worm gear 53 on shaft 54. As best shown in Fig. 1 shaft 54 is fixedly driven through a clutch 55 by the shaft 56 driven through the motor 57. Roller 46 is, therefore, a powerdriven roller, and it transmits power to the drum since it supports that portion of the drums weight which is not carried by or counterbalanced by the springs 12.

In Fig. 8 I have illustrated a preferred type of drum supporting device. As shown in this figure, the slide blocks 10 move in a guideway 9, and a spring 12 rests upon the bottom of the block 10 and upon a slide block 58 which may be adjusted by a screw 59 passing through the base 60 of the slide way, this screw being adjustable by a hand wheel 61. With a structure as above described for each trunnion of the drum, exactly the desired pressure of the drum upon roller 46 may be obtained. In practice this pressure need not be great, but merely sufficient to squeeze the water from the print as it is rolled upon the surface of the drum, as will be hereinafter described.

In order to feed prints to the drum the following structure is used (see Fig. 1): An endless belt 62 passes over guide rollers 63, 64, and 65 and passes a short distance around the periphery of the power driven roller 46. Rollers 64 and 65 may be fixedly supported, but I prefer to support roller 63 on an arm 66 movable about a shaft 67 and spring held at 68 so as to provide a slight tension on belt 62.

Prints to be ferrotyped which have been thoroughly wctted are laid down on belt 62 with their faces toward the belt. This belt is'moved through its contact with the power driven roller 46 so that the prints pass along the belt in the direction indicated by the arrow A then around roller '46 which carries be provided with a soft scraper 70 to removeany prints which may stick to the polished surface.- I find, however, that such a scraper is generally not desirable, and if the drum is roperly cleaned the prints will not stick.

11 order to clean the drum I prefer a buffer roller 71 which may be power driven by gears 72 and 73, the latter gear being mounted on a shaft 74. Gear 73 meshes with pinion 75 on a shaft76 carrying a gear 77 meshing with a worm .gear 78 of the power driiren shaft; 54. I It will thus be seen-that threugh the gearing above described the buffer wheel 71 is rotated at a much higher speed than is the power-driven'roller 46. As

best shown in Fig. 4, the bufier roller 71 is carried by ashaft 79 passing through bearings 80 of arms 81, which are mounted to turn about the shaft 74, which is supported in bearings 82, (only one being shown) which areapart of the main frame 1.. A pair of springs 82 having ends 83 engaging blocks 84 are adjustable byset screws 85 on shaft 74. The springs have their opposite ends 86 engaging the arms'8l. These springs tend to press the buffer wheel 71 against the drum.

As shown in Fig. 7, I prefer to provide a. means for-moving the buffer wheel 71 from the drum when the machine is not in use. In this. embodiment the arms 81 are in the form of hell crank levers having short arms 86 pivoted at 87 to links 88 which have slots 89 in the opposite ends adapted to engage pins 90 on' the bell crank lever 91, a handle 92 being preferably provided on the end of this lever; When the lever is shown from its full line position, Fig. 7", to the broken line position in the same figure, pin 90 b sliding in slot 89 will allow the buffer 71 under the impulseof springs 82 to press against the polished surface 21 of the drum.

It 1s also desirable to move the drum from the power driven roller 46 when the machine is not in use- To this end I mount the bell crank lever 91 upon a shaft 93 carried in suitable supports 94 in a supporting mem- M fber 1. On this shaft .1 fixedly attach a pair of cams 95, these cams being located so as to contact with the smooth periphery 16 of the end plates 14- and 15. When the handle 92 is in the position indicated at full lines polishing and print applyin at i in Fig. 7, the machine is inoperative as the drum has been cammed upwardly in its slideway 9 so that the power-driven roller 46 no longer contacts with the surface 21 of the drum and the buffer 71 has also been moved out of contact with the drum. This position is also shown in Fig. 1 except that in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 bufling As the wet prints are laid upon the belt 62 and are moved by the rubber surface of soft drying roll 46 the moisture in the rints tends to cause them to adhere to the rub er surface. As the belt turns sharply about the roller 62 the prints continue to follow about the power driven roller 46 which irons them smoothly upon the surface 21. This ironing movement also rings out superfluous moisture from the prints automatically.

Since the bufiing roller 71 is located close to the print applying roller 46, the drum is polished and thoroughly cleaned just before the prints are placedon the drum. Since the stations are on the underneath side of the drum, and since they are located over the water w in the tank beneath the drum, thereis very little change for small particles of dirtor dust to accumulate upon the polished surface 21 before the prints are applied thereto. Any dust accumulating on the polished surface after the roll 71 may returninto contact with surface prints have been applied does no harm because this will be olished off by roller-71 before a print coul be placed on that portion.

of the drums surface.

The operation of this machine is very simple. The motor may be started and the handle 92 may be swung from position I to rotated, and, in the preferred form shown in Fig. 7 the bufling roller is not brought into contact with the polished surface-21 untilthe drum is rotated through the ower-driven Y roller 46. This prevents. the ufling roller from bufling one portion ofthesurface 21 more than is necessary. I.

However, since the chromium surface 21 is extremely hard, and since the buffer is preferably made of very soft material, such as felt or the like, there is practically no chance of damaging the highly polished print receiving surface. The contactin surface of the power-driven roller 46 is of rubber so that this rollerconstitutes a single print applying and drum driving means, which cannot injure the hard chromium surface. As the prints are continuously loaded onto belt 62, and as the water is wrung from the prints by the action of roller 46 on surface 21- water accumulates-in the tank beneath and the belt becomes damp. This does not in any way affect the proper drying of the prints because the temperature of the drum is always constant through the action ofthe thermal unit.

After the work has-been completed the operator should move handle 92 to the inoperative position, so that cams 95 by contacting with the periphery 16 of the end plates 14 and 15 will raise the drum in its slidcway from roller 46 and will move the buffer 71 from the drum. This prevents the soft sur face of roller 46 from becoming distorted, and also facilitates an even heating of. the drum surface when the machine is again being prepared for use, as ordinarily the heating element will be started before the power drive is started.-

While I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that certain features thereof may be applied to different types to machines, and I do not desire to be limited to the structure by way of illustration in the drawings except as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a print drying machine, the combination with a support having slideways therein, of a drying drum, trunnions on the drum engaging the slideway's, a power-driven member mounted in the support, said drum engaging the power-driven member, and a cam car ried by the support and adapted to contact with the periphery of the drum for moving the drum from the driven member.

2. In a print drying machine, the combination with a support having slideways therein, of a drying drum, trunnions on the drum engaging the slideways, a. power-driven member mounted in the support, said drum engaging the power-driven member, and a cam carried by the support, a lever for moving the cam whereby ,a force may be exerted on the drum to move it in the slideway from the power-driven member.

3. Ina print drier, the combination of a drum, of a drum revolving roller contacting with the periphery of the drum, and means for feeding prints to the drum including a belt, said belt being free from contact with said drum and having contact with the drum revolving roller, whereby both the drum and the print-feeding belt may be moved through the drum-revolving roller.

4. In a print drier, the combination of a drum, of a drum revolving roller contacting with the periphery of the drum, and means for feeding prints to the drum including a belt, said belt being free from contact with said drum, and having contact with a portion of the drum revolving roller.

5. In a print drier, the combination with a drum having a polished metal surface, of a feed roller having a rubber surface adapted to contact with the polished metal surface of the drum, a fabric belt adapted to feed prints to the rubber roller, whereby a print laid on the belt may be carried by the roller into contact with the drum.

6. In a print drier, the combination With a drum having a polished metal surface, of a print feeding mechanism including a belt lying at all times out of contact with the polished metal surface of the drum and an intermediate drum contacting roller adapted to receive a print from the belt and smooth it upon the polished metal surface of the drum.

7. In a print drier, the combination with a drum having a polished chromium surfaced periphery, of a print feeding mechanism adapted to deliver prints toward the polished drum surface, a relatively soft print applying roller adapted to roll the prints firmly into contact with the polishedi surface, whereby the prints may receive at correspondingly smooth surface.

8. In a print drier, the combination with a drum having a smooth outer surface, said surface including a layer of chromium having a highly polished surface, and a power drive for said drum including a soft surfaced roller contacting with the polished surface.

9. In a print drier, the combination with a drum having a smooth outer surface, said surface including alayer of chromium having a highly polished surface, a power drive for said drum including a soft surfaced roller contacting with the polished surface, and a soft surfaced polishing roller spaced from the soft surfaced drive roller.

10. In a print drier, the combination with a drum having spaced cylindrical walls, of a temperature controlling fluid between the spaced walls, a power drive for the drum, 9. fixedly mounted heating element adjacent the spaced walls of the drum, and an automatic heat controlling device mounted to rotate with the drum, said device cooperating with the fluid between the spaced walls of the drum.

11. In a print drier, the combination with a drum having spaced cylindrical walls, of a temperature controllin fluid between the spaced walls, a power drive for the drum, a heating element adjacent the spaced walls of the drum, element including an automatically actuated plunger adapted to regulate the heating element,'said plunger being interconnected with and controlled by a thermal unit extendinginto the fluid, contained between the space walls of the drum.

12. In a print drier, the combination with a drum comprising side plates having smooth peripheries and a polished surface supported etween the side plates, a soft power-driven roller for driving the drum, said roller being the drum, 8.

adapted to contact with the olished surface thereof, and cam members a apted to contact with the smooth peripheries of the side plates to move the drum from the driving roller.

13. In a print drier, the combination with a movably mounted drum, of a support for drive roller with which the drum maycontact and through which the drum may cam mechanism for assisting the springs in iiovin the drum from the drive roller.

14; a print drier, the combination with a drum, of a drive roller, the drum and drive roller bein movably mounted with respect to' each 0t er, a polishing rollermovably 1 mounted with respect to" the drum, and a single means ,for separating both the drive and polishing rollers'from the drum.

15. In a print drier,

a drum, of a drive roller, the drum and drive roller bein movably mounted with respect.

to each ot er,

- mounted with respect to the drum, and a lever, operatively connected-to at least two I of the three relatively movable members ada ted to controlthe relative vpositions of p the um, the polishing roller and the driving roller. Signed at Rochester,

nor S. Home,

and means to control the heating be rotated, springs for limiting the pres-' sure exerted by the drum on the roller, and a the combination with a polishing roller movably NewYork,this10t li' 

